Carter, Wrights and Blankenship are three of 13 Texans who filed statements of candidacy with the Federal Election Committee to run for president in 2012. Six, including Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, are Republican, and three are registered as independent. Also there is one Democrat, two Libertarians and one member of the Eco-Green Party.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry — if he runs — and Paul can count on millions of dollars in campaign contributions and armies of volunteers from Mexia, Texas, to Manchester, N.H. But that is not the case for the army of unknowns who believe they are just as qualified to serve as commander-in-chief.

Toss the others out

The other Texans' reasons for running vary widely, but there was one common thread: a deep distrust of politics and politicians.

Just an ordinary person

After high school, Wrights enlisted in the Air Force to help pay for college, but the anti-war advocate requested a nursing post so he could serve without "having to kill a soul."

Wrights said that experience helped shape his presidential platform and message: ending all wars.

"There is a war on everything," he said. "As I grew up, there was a war on poverty. People are still poor. Then there was a war on drugs, but people are still using drugs."

A former bartender and carpenter, Wrights has been active in Libertarian Party organizations since 2000 and is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party — a distinction earned by donating $1,000 to the party. He now lives in Burnet in the Texas Hill Country.

Platform is green

As the only member of the Eco-Green party, John "Green" Ferguson joked that he is assured he will clinch the party's nomination.

Armed with a thoroughly green platform — his views on most issues tie back to his green principles — Ferguson, 57, said his candidacy will push a green perspective.

"With the world falling apart, with the rain forest being cut down, the ozone going away and the animals going extinct," he said, "we need to make changes to live here with each other peacefully."

Ferguson moved west with his family as a boy, spending most of his life in Arizona before tiring of the dirt and dust and buying a 20-acre cattle ranch in Azle, northwest of Fort Worth.

If elected, Ferguson said he would work immediately to put Americans back to work by mandating country-wide recycling for all waste, raising the tax incentives on solar power to 30 to 40 percent, and banning the use of all fossil fuels within five years.

If no one else is willing ...

Citing the election of Abraham Lincoln as the nation's first Republican president in 1860, Roger V. Gary, a fifth generation Texan who describes himself as a "history buff," said the 2012 election could see history repeat itself.

Gary predicted the election of the nation's first Libertarian candidate. Him.

"I started asking around, looking for good Libertarians who would want to run for president and I couldn't find anyone else to do it," he said. "So then I decided, 'Hey, if no one else will do it, I'll do.'"

Gary said his campaign will reach out to independent voters and dissatisfied Libertarians, Republicans and Democrats with a promise that his practical experience — he was the director of the San Antonio River Authority and state chair of the Libertarian Party of Texas — will help him lead the country.

Gary, from San Antonio, said his first move as president would be to "radically" shrink the government by 40 to 50 percent.

Hitting the trail in Iowa

While campaigning in Ocseola, Iowa, Jared Blankenship said the belief Americans still have in the political system rejuvenated his campaign.

Running as a Republican, Blankenship, from Hereford, is facing an upward battle to carve out votes in next week's Ames Straw Poll, but it was the elderly man he met over lunch who was willing to pay for Blankenship supporters to travel to Ames that reminded Blankenship that grass-roots movements can affect the party establishment.

"I was overwhelmed that there are still people in this nation that want to believe in something and are willing to back it up," he said.

As the former teacher toured more than 1,000 miles in Iowa and talked with business owners in Texas, he said he found many Republicans who no longer felt at home with a GOP dominated by social conservatives rather than small business "ideals."

"Most of our supporters are Republicans who feel that their party has run off and left them," he said.

Houston's very own

Vernon Edgar Wuensche does not want to be a Washington insider nor does he really want to be president. But is taking on his second presidential campaign because he believes the government has lost sight of its purpose.

"I'm running because I want to improve the governance of the country. I'm a business owner, and my frustration is that there are no business practices in Washington," he said. "These people are just seeking power."

With an eye toward New Hampshire, Nevada and Florida, Wuensche, from Houston, said the largest problem he faces is a lack of funding. His big supporters who are "waiting in the wings," he said, are not willing to donate until he can prove he will make a serious mark on the campaign trail.

Other Texas contenders include Gabriel Alexander Jimenez from El Paso, John Hoelzel Jr. from Ivanhoe, Timothy Terrell Day from Galveston, Joseph Charles from the Houston area, Scott Andrew Cain from Garland and Harold C. Heard Jr. of Frisco.